By obtaining Cliff Lee before the season, Seattle, already with Felix Hernandez, believed that they held a pair of aces that could beat any two pitchers were thrown against them in successive days and help the Mariners contend for the American League crown.

Following Lee’s complete game win on Tuesday, Hernandez performed even better in last night’s 7-0 win at Yankee Stadium, also going the distance, while allowing no runs, two hits and striking out 11.

The only legitimate hit of the night came on a Mark Teixeira double, with the other coming off a Major League popup from rookie Colin Curtis, which was lost in the lights by second baseman Chone Figgins.

“Another great pitching performance. “That might be the best pure stuff I’ve seen [Felix] have in a ballgame,” Mariners manager Don Wakamatsu said. “It was moving all over the place. He kept them off-balance and was efficient with his pitches. . . . Pretty dominating, pretty spectacular.”

Hernandez said he felt he was in the groove.

“I really felt good,” he said. “Everything was working. I felt strong. I threw a lot of strikes. That’s all you need to do. This team’s pretty good, so you need to throw a lot of strikes.”

Incredibly, this was only the second time that Lee and Hernandez have won back-to-back games this season. Winners of nine of their past 12 games, the Mariners are attempting to end the three-month nightmare that is their season, languishing in last place, with the lowest scoring offense in the American League. Last night, the offense finally gave some support and Hernandez continued a seldom seen trend, pitching nine innings for the third straight game. Lee also is on a three consecutive complete-game streak.

“You talk about the impact that Lee has on this pitching staff,” Wakamatsu said. “I think it pushes Felix. We talked about that in spring training that a guy like Lee will make Felix better, and I think it’s starting to pay off.”

“We knew the ability was there, and I think the key word for them going complete games is that they’ve been efficient.”